Mike Fine: Red Sox couldn't take 'Manny being Manny' anymore

At any cost, by virtually any manner, without a shred of doubt, the Red Sox were determined to dump Manny Ramirez, his attitude and his baggage. Enough was enough — and that didn’t come from Ramirez.

Mike Fine

At any cost, by virtually any manner, without a shred of doubt, the Red Sox were determined to dump Manny Ramirez, his attitude and his baggage.

For that, they’ve paid a heavy price, one that they feel will enable them to move on and play the game with the respect that manager Terry Francona is so fond of citing.

Enough was enough — and that didn’t come from Ramirez. The Red Sox had enough of the uncharacteristic belligerence this year, not to mention the lackadaisical attitude and the “what-have-you-done-for-me-now?” personality of a highly paid player who didn’t seem to give much in return. After years of dealing with problematic injuries, shaky defense and lack of cooperation, the one-tool (he could hit) veteran had reached the end of the line.

The price was steep, but worth it. Not surprising that Ramirez will end up in la-la land, with the Dodgers, and good luck to Joe Torre.

Yet it could be a win-win proposition for both the Dodgers and the Pittsburgh Pirates, the third partner in the deal, who’ll ship outfielder Jason Bay to the Sox.

The Dodgers are basically renting this ungrateful, childlike simp for two months as they attempt to capture the N.L. West. He’ll be joining a team that’s owned by Bostonian Frank McCourt and includes former teammates Derek Lowe and Nomar Garciaparra, whom the Red Sox treated so shabbily before unloading him, too, four years ago. We know that because Ramirez told us so.

The Pirates will get four good young players, including Boston’s Craig Hansen and his strong arm, and a really talented outfielder in Brandon Moss. But there’s more. Ramirez has agreed to turn down his two $20 million options, so when the Dodgers offer him arbitration after the season, he’ll decline and become a free agent.

Good luck trying to find a deal worth more than $40 million with his declining skills and at his age.

The added burden for the Sox, though, is that when he declines arbitration, it’ll cost them two first-round draft picks that they’ll have to surrender to the team that signs him as a free agent. That’s a dear price to pay for a club that treasures draft picks and nurtures them so successfully.

Yet the trade hurts on many other levels, and not only because Ramirez disrespected the organization that signed him to a potential $200 million contract in December 2000. Ramirez was a premier slugger in the major leagues, an 11-time All-Star (four with Cleveland), the 2004 World Series MVP, a nine-timer Silver Slugger award winner and an A.L. batting champ (2002), a league home run, RBI and slugging champion. He’s batting .299 with 20 home runs and 69 RBI this season, having reached the 500 home-run mark on May 31.

"He's one of the best four or five hitters in baseball," Dodgers manager Torre said. "I like him, yet he marches to his own drummer. I had him in the All-Star Game. It doesn't make sense to me (that he would be available)."

Yet Ramirez had become a lingering distraction in the Red Sox clubhouse and it wouldn’t be a stretch to say he was a distraction and an embarrassment from the moment he arrived. Not long after he first donned a Sox uniform in 2001, reports began to surface relating to his discomfort with the decision to seek free agency and leave Cleveland.

Over the years, his goofy and often selfish personality popped up in various ways.

He was frequently late for spring training. Once he claimed his grandmother had died. A short time later she was ill. His mother was sometimes ill. He was often injured. When he reported late to his second spring training camp in 2002, teammate Trot Nixon blasted him.

"You want to know why the Yankees win so many championships?” Nixon asked. “I'll tell you why. Everybody shows up ready to play baseball. They figure out some way to jell together. The younger guys are in awe. They don't come strolling in, pimping around and doing this and doing that. Bernie Williams showed up. Derek Jeter made $20 million. He shows up. You can guarantee he shows up on time."

Most teammates accepted Ramirez’s peculiar behavior.

In July 2003, Ramirez bowed out of the All-Star Game because of a sore hamstring. A day later he failed to show for the final game before the break at Detroit. He said his mother was ill.

Later that season, Ramirez missed considerable time with a case of pharyngitis, yet he was seen at a hotel bar with a member of the Yankees’ coaching staff. It was about that time that he told ESPN that he’d like to play for the Yankees someday. Ramirez grew up in the shadow of Yankee Stadium.

He was a terrible baserunner. Once, he reached second base and simply stepped off and got tagged out. There have been numerous occasions when he didn’t hustle to first base and had to be reprimanded. This happened last weekend, when the Angels’ John Lackey was throwing a no-hitter against the Red Sox. Ramirez hit a slow grounder down the third baseline, forcing Chone Figgins to field the ball deep behind the bag and make a long, high throw. Ramirez simply trotted down the line and was thrown out easily.

There was the game on July 27, 2005, when Nixon was hurt and couldn’t play. Francona asked his left fielder, who was scheduled for a day off, to play. He refused. That, by the way, came a day after he trotted to first base on a ground ball that was booted. He was thrown out because he didn’t hustle. A couple of years earlier he refused to pinch hit when asked by manager Grady Little.

Along the way, there were serious and crazy incidents that created a legend. He once was rehabbing with the Pawtucket Red Sox and lost a $15,000 diamond earring while sliding into third base.

He took several trips into the scoreboard at Fenway Park — for whatever reason. Once, the game had to be halted momentarily after he was delayed retaking the field.

He’s the player who failed to accompany a Worcester Little Leaguer to his spot in left field, leaving the poor kid standing there all alone.

Beyond the goofiness, he was often a liability, especially defensively. On a strange play on July 21, 2004, he inexplicably cut off a throw from teammate Johnny Damon, allowing David Newhan of the Orioles to score on an inside-the-park home run.

On and on it went, but the “Manny being Manny” franchise began to wear very thin very quickly this season. His suddenly began engaging in strange behavior.

After shunning the media for years, he began talking freely, mostly about his contract. At one point he shoved teammate Kevin Youkilis in the dugout, and he incurred the wrath of thousands when he shoved 64-year-old traveling secretary Jack McCormack when the club employee couldn’t come up with a large number of free tickets on short notice.

The deterioration continued rapidly last week when he asked out of two games, one against the Yankees, for what he said was a sore right knee. No surprise, because teammates feel he quit on them late in the 2006 season, claiming injury. In this case the team ordered an MRI — on both knees. They came up negative.

The last straw came within the last few days actually, as the trade deadline approached and he began speaking of his desire to leave Boston, to be treated fairly.

“They don‘t deserve me,” he said of the team.

Some would argue that, in reality, he didn’t deserve them.

The Patriot Ledger

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